259. Dissected Paths

I sank into the water like a rock. The world grew dark as my hearing grew muffled. The Breastplate of Alexander glimmered faintly— its enchantment still active, although it could potentially fade in the future. For now, I trusted that it would keep me safe, even if I wasn’t going to be overly-reliant on it.

Deep below, a complex network of ravines showed itself. It lay beneath the sea. A world of death, populated by a Species of terrible monsters. Centinels. Millions of them, maybe. Definitely hundreds of thousands, at least.

I wasn’t stupid enough to jump straight back into the centermost ravine. It scarred the seafloor like a gaping wound, and the other ravines around it were like small scratches in comparison. For now, I waded down to one of the smaller cracks— a ten feet wide hole that sank maybe a hundred feet at most.

I plopped out of the water, lithely landing on solid ground. The dirt squelched beneath my feet. Red mud stained the heels of my shoe. The soft sound attracted some movement. I saw slithering out of the corner of my eye. [Younger Centinels] wriggled out from underneath rocks and from the cracks on the walls. None of them were above Level 40. Most of them were at Level 10. Their length ranged from the size of my fist to the length of my arm. Tiny things.

One of them screeched and scuttled towards me. I flicked a finger, sending a tiny bolt of fire at it. It was instantly killed. The other Centinels went over to its charred corpse and began fighting over the remains. I scoffed.

“Barely any experience. Stupid wild things.”

I stalked down the side of the ravine, letting a ball of flame light the way. I stayed on my guard. I didn’t even let a single [Younger Centinel] reach me. I washed my blue flames across the rock wall, incinerating the little critters before they could swarm me with their numbers. I wasn’t particularly worried that they’d be able to kill me.

I just didn’t want them to ebb away at the Breastplate of Alexander’s enchantments.

The ravine intersected with another, deeper crevice. It was narrower, but it was also dug deeper into the ground. I leaned over the ledge and took in what was below.

“Woah.”

The entire bottom of the second crevice was carpeted in a gleaming purple. Hundreds of oval-like objects were strewn across the rocks. Eggs. I recognized them as Centinel eggs.

It was a Lair.

Now entering [Lair: Centinels Camp]!

One of the eggs shifted slightly. It cracked open, and an [Infant Centinel] crawled out. It was even smaller than the [Younger Centinel]. It also looked so squishy, without the hard carapace that all Centinels had.

“Aw, it actually looks kind of cute.”

I stared at it as it wriggled around. Then I tapped a finger on my lips.

“And tasty—”

Before I could even muse about the delicacy of Centinels, there was a chomp. An undulating figure moved amongst the eggs, like a deep sea creature swimming in the ocean. It had to be at least a hundred feet long from head to tail. It was, obviously, a Centinel. And it was eating its own children.

[Senior Centinel - Lvl. 122]

“Huh.”

[Infant Centinels] hatched and died in mere moments as the [Senior Centinel] swam across the lake of its own eggs. The [Infant Centinels] didn’t even have a chance to let out a squeak before they were fed to their progenitor.

I took a step back, blinking.

“So… does that mean they are tasty?”

Of course, I didn’t get an answer. Instead, I heard a skittering in return. I spun around as a loud clicking echoed behind me and faced a looming figure.

[Older Centinel - Lvl. 85]

It rose out of the ground at a few dozen feet, lashing out with a whip of acid. I flipped over the attack and conjured a Nebular Scythe.

“Are we doing this now? Because I've tried eating you [Older Centinels] before, and I’m pretty sure you won’t taste good.”

I leapt at the [Older Centinel] as it came down at me with its maw. It snapped its jaw wildly as I sliced up with my Nebular Scythe. A grin spread across my face as a heavy thud resounded. The head of the [Older Centinel] dropped, followed slowly by the rest of its body.

“Was that it?”

Of course, that wasn’t it. More [Older Centinels] crawled out from across the ravine, scuttling and shrieking as they spat large orbs of acid at me. I breathed out a Flaming Breath, evaporating the vile liquid before it even reached me. I tossed my Nebular Scythe back, instead creating a pair of Nebular Sickle Grenades in each hand. I tossed them forward, blasting apart the oncoming Centinels before they even reached me.

The explosion resounded throughout the cavern. It shook the ravine I was standing in, and I pursed my lips.

“That was a bit… too loud.”

I glanced over behind me, waiting— anticipating what was to come. And as expected, a tall shadow ascended from the crevice with the Centinel eggs. The [Senior Centinel] stared at me with its beady black eyes. A hollow gaze. One without any shred of intelligence behind it. Just a wild need to destroy everything it saw. Even its offspring.

It screeched and lashed down at me with its entire body. I backed up as it crushed the earth, sending a pillar of dust into the air. The Nebular Scythe I’d tossed behind was sent flying. I saw it spinning in the air as the [Senior Centinel] drew back. My eyes flickered, and I moved.

[Haste] overtook my body. My speed increased, but even still, the [Senior Centinel] was incredibly fast. I barely reacted as it whipped back up, snapping for my head. I sent a spurt of flame out in the opposite direction to slow my movement, just so its attack would miss.

Then I hopped back up into the air and grabbed my Nebular Scythe. I landed before the [Senior Centinel] as it looped back around to face me.

There were a lot of Skills I could use here to defeat the [Senior Centinel]. It was over 10 Levels above me. It wasn’t going to be an easy fight. And it looked way more durable than the [Evolved Centinel] had been.

But as the [Senior Centinel] charged me once more, I didn’t use [Demon’s Mark]. I didn’t use [Radiant Slash]. I didn’t use [Salvo of Vanity]. I couldn’t afford to use my best Skills against the first proper challenge I met.

I didn’t transform with [Demonic Essence]. Instead, I fought the [Senior Centinel] with nothing more than [Haste] and the Nebular Scythe]. I whittled away at its shell with a couple of [Barrage of Cinders], but otherwise, I was sparse with the Skills I used.

The [Senior Centinel] was fast. However, due to its size, it wasn’t as nimble or agile as me. It swung its body around, smashing against rock and stone as I narrowly avoided being squished against the ground.

...well, that was an over exaggeration. Even if I didn’t have the Breastplate of Alexander, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be killed in a single hit. However, it still looked like it’d hurt.

I took my time with this fight. I wasn’t in any rush. I made sure to keep aware of my surroundings with [Planar Navigation], and I didn’t sense any other [Senior Centinel] or high-leveled Centinel approaching.

Five minutes passed, then ten. It was at that moment I finally broke through the [Senior Centinel]’s shell. However, it wasn’t felled in that instant. It would take another ten minutes before I inflicted enough damage for its movements to be slowed. Then when the half an hour mark came, a notification resounded in my head, accompanying the crashing of the giant corpse.

Defeated [Senior Centinel – Lvl. 122]!

More experience is awarded for defeating an enemy at least 10 levels above you!

Cleared [Lair: Centinels Camp]!

Experience is awarded for clearing a Lair!

Subspecies [Daeva Cambion] Level Up!

[Daeva Cambion – Lvl. 111] -> [Daeva Cambion – Lvl. 112]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!

Class [Worldly Mystic of the Nexeus] Level Up!

[Worldly Mystic of the Nexeus - Lvl. 63] -> [Worldly Mystic of the Nexeus - Lvl. 64]

Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!

—--

I leveled twice from that battle. IOne for my Subspecies, and one for my Class. didn't use much of my Class in that fight— however, it probably still gave me experience for it since [Planar Navigation] was active the whole time. And that was why it leveled.

I was getting close to my Class advancement. I just knew it. I was definitely going to get it before I reached Level 70. The thought of it alone made me sway happily as I sat at the bottom of the second crevice, munching on [Infant Centinels]. Unlike their evolved versions, these tasted delicious.

They would crawl up to me with their tiny shrill squeaks and try to bite my hand off, only for me to pluck them from the ground and stuff them into my mouth.

I gained no experience for it, unfortunately.

“You know, I can see why your mother… father… whatever that was to you… ate you. You all taste so nice. Also, you’re wild and dumb.”

The [Infant Centinels] skittered around, trying to kill each other as they hatched, having no regard to the fact that they were related. I felt the egg beneath me shift. I sat up as it cracked open, and an [Infant Centinel] wriggled out with a soft shriek. I picked it up and dangled it by its head.

“I wonder, why are you all so stupid? What makes you all… wild?”

It nibbled at my fingertips. My Breastplate of Alexander didn’t even activate because it couldn’t hurt me. I cocked my head.

“What does the Devil even want me to prove by being here? All of you look the same. All of you act the same. You’re just a smaller version of the [Ancient Centinel], aren’t you?”

I hurled the [Infant Centinel] against the wall and it went splat.

“To not die? Because that’s not very hard. I can just hide here for a few months and when he returns, I’ll show him that I’m still alive and well. Fantastic, even!”

I puffed my chest up as [Rest] told me that I fully recovered all my stamina and mana from the fight.

“However, that’s not it. He wants me to prove that I’m better than… the [Ancient Centinel]? Or just the Centinels in general? Does he want me to wipe out all of you from existence? Because that’d be hard!”

If that was my goal here, he’d implied something like that. The only thing I’d gotten from his words was that I had to fight and beat something. Well, I’d beaten the next strongest Centinel here right behind the [Ancient Centinel], didn’t I?

A [Senior Centinel].

I probably just had to kill… maybe a few hundred to a thousand more, then I’d close the gap between myself and the [Ancient Centinels] enough to actually stand a chance against them.

“But if it takes me half an hour to beat a single [Senior Centinel]...”

Well, I’d miss my next academic term in Mavos Academy. And Belzu would run amok and grow a lot stronger by then. So, what am I supposed to do?”

I took off, leaving the second ravine. I landed back at the first ravine and glanced around. I couldn’t see the end of the first ravine. However, I saw slices of smaller or bigger crevices cutting through its path. I approached one of these other gashes on the earth to investigate them, shrugging as I didn’t know what else to do.

Then I heard a soft click.

And it was then I realized that I forgot to account for something when considering the Centinels. It was a new variable, however it wasn’t really fresh on my mind since I’d experienced a lot of things in just this one day alone.

I thought all Centinels were the same, just resized. But no— there was a different kind of Centinel. I remembered the diary. The contents towards the end that described something different about the Centinels. Ones that evolved.

Ones similar to the Centinel that I fought.

I thought of its design. How it was shaped differently from a regular Centinel. And I turned around to face the source of the noise.

[Evolved Centinel - Lvl. 121]

[Evolved Centinel - Lvl. 135]

[Evolved Centinel - Lvl. 113]

“Huh.”